


Time Twister

by Hollyflash



Series: Time Twister [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Danny just loves his family so much, Gen, Implied Character Death, Overshadowing, References to Mind Control, Things happen with blood that should not happen with blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7257319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollyflash/pseuds/Hollyflash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the portal didn’t quite work, Danny’s parents didn’t quit. They’re scientists trying to break into an alternate dimension after all; it’s not like they honestly thought it would work the first time. </p><p>They never imagined that it could go so wrong. </p><p>Now between a ghost who says he can bring them back and a group of hunters who don’t care about who they hurt, it falls on their son to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written originally between August 23rd and November 8th, 2015. I never actually posted the final chapter on tumblr, because people weren't reacting to it and I got discouraged. That's probably why I've yet to edit and post any of the sequel...
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! ^^

**Part 1;**

Danny's parents were upstairs when he woke up Monday morning, already in their jumpsuits. For a moment he stayed still, remembering the event from last night he'd tried so desperately to avoid. Had his parents put off activating their portal? Had his five hour adventure of wandering around Amity Park been for _nothing?_

"Cereal's in the cupboard, Sweetie." His mom said at last, "Would you mind eating in the living room? Your father and I need the table."

"Um, sure?" Danny climbed on the counter so he could reach the box of cereal he was looking for. _Curse you shortness!_ "What're you guys working on?"

"Recalculating the ectoplasm intake for our ghost portal," Maddie sighed, "We must have screwed up on the math somewhere."

"Think we should call up Vladdie?" Jack asked, "He was the best as these things!"

"He's ignored us for twenty years, Jack." Maddie scratched something down on her sheet of paper, "I don't think we can all start being friends again just because of the portal."

Danny grabbed a bowl and poured his cereal in, "Have fun with your math."

"We won't," His dad said.

Danny finished his cereal just as Jazz came down the stairs. "Hey, Jazz. Can I get a ride with your friends to school?"

Jazz shrugged, "It's a free country." She entered the kitchen, returning a moment later with a stick of celery in his hand. "Let's go, then. They'll be here in a minute."

"Is your breakfast crunchy water?"

"I don't judge you and your Spooky O's." She grabbed her bag and walked out the door.

Danny dropped his bowl in the kitchen sink, waving to his parents as he left.

"Bye, Danny," Maddie said.

"Have a good day at school!" Jack said.

Danny grinned, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. "I won't!"

Danny left the house as his dad laughed, and closed the door as his mom said "Focus, Jack."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Something was wrong.

It was like there was a weight in Danny's gut, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Strange emotions were washing over him- sadness, guilt- and Danny couldn't figure out why he felt this way. He'd gotten a B on his math test, they had just started a unit on space in science class, and they were _finally_ done with poetry in English. He should be happy.

"Dude," Tucker and Sam cornered him at the beginning of lunch, "You've been looking like your dog just died all day. What's wrong?"

Danny shrugged, "Nothing. I don't even have a dog. Can we go? I'm starving."

"Does it have anything to do with your parent's ghost portal?" Sam asked.

"No; the thing didn't work so they're redoing their math or something." Danny replied, slipping under the arm of the duo who'd attempted to pin him to the wall. "Guys, I'm fine. Let's just go get our…" He trailed off when the ground seemed to shake beneath his feet.

Amity Park rocked as a jolt was sent through the ground, knocking the trio and citizens everywhere off their feet. People screamed, windows broke, car alarms went off, and teachers poured out of their rooms into the hallway.

_Something's wrong. Something's wrong. Something's wrong._

"Danny!" Jazz appeared from somewhere, helping Danny to his feet. Sam and Tucker followed. "Something's wrong, are you okay?"

"You feel it too?" Danny said softly.

_Something's wrong. Something's wrong. Something's wrong._

"Guys?" Sam called with her voice shaking in a way that Danny never thought he'd hear from Sam. "You might want to take a look at this!"

Danny turned, and as he looked out the window his world was coated in shades of green.

It was Tucker who shouted, "What the _hell_ is that?!"

Over the tops of some of the houses, half of a huge, swirling, green oval was visible.

"Danny," Jazz said, "Our house is in that direction."

_Mom and Dad._

Danny ran. Faster than he ever had in his life, faster than he thought he could, he ran. Through the hallway, out the doors, and down the street. Jazz was at his heels, with no words exchanged between them. They just ran. Danny hopped over a fallen streetlamp, the feeling of something being wrong intensifying with each step he took. It overwhelmed him once he finally, exhausted and feeling like he was about to throw up, turned the corner expecting to see his house.

He didn't.

Jazz didn't scream. Danny didn't scream. The siblings stood in silence, staring at the colossal, swirling, green oval which came up from their basement and seemed to have swallowed their house whole.

"Mom?" Danny's voice was barely a whisper, "Dad!" He shook his head, stepping closer. "Mom, Dad!"

Only FentonWorks had been swallowed by it, none of the other houses were touched. People were pouring out of them and screaming, grabbing what they could and running down the street past the siblings. Danny paid them no heed, frozen with fear at the sight before him.

"No," Jazz's voice broke. _"No!"_ She didn't move calmly forward, instead running past her brother. "Mom, Dad!"

"Jazz…" Danny shook his head again, rushing after his sister. "Jazz, no!" He tackled her to the ground, only a few feet away from the thing which had swallowed their home.

She squirmed, trying to throw him off as Danny tried to pin her down. "Danny, let me go! Mom and Dad are still-"

"I know!" Danny's voice broke, "And I'm not losing you too because you were stupid enough to try and pull them out!"

Jazz broke. Danny broke. By the time Sam and Tucker arrived, the siblings were a sobbing mess and sirens rang through the air. A man in a white suit had to pull them away from the remains of their home.

.-.-.-.-.-.

There was a memorial service arranged. Danny went, dressed in a rented tuxedo his Aunt Alicia had paid for. Jazz went too, silent, numb, and dressed in more rented clothing. Danny never once let go of his sister's hand.

A man named Vlad Masters found the siblings after the ceremony, when Aunt Alicia was trying to convince them to eat something.

"May I sit?" He asked. Danny nodded slowly, signalling he could. Vlad had given a huge speech in his mom's honour, and barely mentioned his dad.

"What do you want, Fancy Pants?" Alicia asked.

"Alicia, these children have lost their mother. I merely came to offer my condolences."

"You forgot my dad," Danny said.

"My dear boy," Vlad said, "How could I ever forget your father?"

"Don't know," Danny said, "I'm not a mind reader."

Vlad smiled, "I believe we'll get along quite well, Daniel."

Danny didn't know what was meant by that. He didn't want to. "Did my dad used to call you Vladdie?"

Vlad grimaced while Aunt Alicia grinned. "Yes, among other things."

"He mentioned you, the day they… died." _They're gone. They're gone._ "They were trying to fix up the ectoplasm intake for their portal. Dad thought they should call you up, ask you to come help."

"Did they now?"

Danny nodded, poking a square of fudge with a carrot. "Mom told him not to. She didn't think you'd want to help."

"Oh, if only they had." Vlad said, "Perhaps we would be meeting on a happier occasion."

"But we aren't," Alicia said. "So beat it."

"Alicia, you-"

Jazz grabbed Danny by his wrist and pulled him away from the quickly brewing fight.

Aunt Alicia would later sit her niece and nephew down in their hotel room. She'd talk about how Vlad had told her she wouldn't make a good parent, and as much as she'd tried to deny it she knew he was right. She'd say their parents would have wanted them to have a life so much better than the one she could provide. They'd discuss other options.

At one point, Danny would mention this to Tucker. The next day, Tucker and his family would show up in the hotel room and reveal that if Danny and Jazz wanted to, Angela and Maurice Foley would be more than willing to take them in.

Danny and Jazz would both break down into tears as it sunk in a little deeper that their parents weren't coming back.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny focused on the corner of the room, listening to the pencil scratches of his classmates. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes.

For a moment, he could trick himself into believing this was just a dream. That these past weeks hadn't been real. He'd wake up the day before it all to the smell of smoke, because his mom had tried 'enhancing' her breakfast. He'd go downstairs in his pink flannel pajamas. Jazz would groan and hide her face in a book. Their dad would bother her until she told him what it was about. Mom would offer Danny some breakfast; he'd refuse, looking at the reanimated whatever, and get himself down some cereal. He'd-

"Casper High is now in lockdown. I repeat; we are now in lockdown."

Danny sat up a little straighter as the announcement ended, watching as Mr. Lancer moved to lock the door and close the blinds. "You heard the principal, everyone; stay quiet."

Danny raised his eyebrows, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was a text from Jazz.

' _Tetslaff says it's not a drill. Be safe.'_

Danny texted back _'you too'_ before passing Jazz's message along to Sam and Tucker. If only he had this class with them, then they could joke about it being caused by another of his parents stupid mistakes as they rushed to fight some non-existent ghost…

 _Ow,_ okay, that thought hurt.

Danny looked over the other people in the classroom. Nearly everyone had their phones out, while Dash and Kwan seemed to be making ridiculous faces at each other, trying to see who could make the other laugh first. Valerie was whispering something to Star and Paulina. Nobody seemed particularly concerned about what had sent their school into lockdown. Danny wasn't either, but then again, he didn't really feel anything that much anymore.

The wind was whistling rather oddly for a previously bright and sunny day. Danny could faintly hear shouting outside, and once again there was something twisting in his gut. Something was wrong. There was something outside, with the shouting, and Danny could almost feel himself being pulled towards it. The classroom had gone quiet, aside from a few mutters between friends as they realized at last what their situation was. Danny licked his lips, looking nervously around. He wanted to stand up and rush to the window.

He didn't need to.

Some sort of large green blob with arms and a face was thrown through the window. The glass did not shatter, or give any signs it had been touched. The blinds did not shift despite the mass which had been thrown through them.

Lancer was on his feet within seconds, arms spread in an effort to protect the teenagers behind him. "What _are_ you?"

The thing was floating now, and Danny could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Some students were whimpering or crying silently. This didn't seem real. There was no way there was actually some sort of floating green monster in the classroom- it was speaking now. Its mouth was moving and strange, garbled sounds came from it. It moved forward, grinning at the teacher who had started to move back. And then the green blob dove into the teacher.

It didn't come back out.

Lancer went rigid for a moment before he turned back. When he did Danny could clearly see that his teacher's eyes were a dark, solid red.

Danny wasn't sure exactly who it was, but someone screamed. That was all they needed for chaos to break loose.

Half the class ran for the door, a quarter for the windows, and the remaining few were left frozen where they'd been told to stay.

Lancer- but it didn't seem to be their teacher anymore- laughed and moved towards the panicking group trying to fix the door. Danny was frozen in place, barely even able to breathe. This couldn't be real. Lancer wasn't actually moving towards his students like that. He wasn't actually about to grab Paulina, no. No, this wasn't actually happening. It couldn't be. It _couldn't_ be real.

The glass in the window shattered and the blinds swung in this time, as a man in a white suit found his way in. "Get back!" He shouted, both hands on a bright green pistol. He fired one shot and Not-Lancer was thrown back. A red stain grew on the side of his shirt, darker than the shade in his eyes.

"You _shot_ him!" Star screamed, and within seconds the class was panicking again. Their screams died away when Not-Lancer stood back up.

"Tenacious little bugger, aren't you?" The man in white said, "You'll melt in him and you'll fade away outside. Your only option is to come with me."

Not-Lancer laughed and spread his arms wide. The man hesitated, looking at the teenagers around him.

It was that moment of hesitation which led to Valerie jumping off a chair and kicking him in the back of the head. He crashed to the ground and Valerie pointed out the window. _"Run!"_

Through everyone running for their lives, Danny could see Dash and Kwan scoop up their semi-conscious teacher and help him out. The blobby thing separated himself from Lancer, form flickering, and locked eyes on the only student still frozen by fear.

The blob moved towards Danny, who moved back. The unconscious man had been nearly trampled, and was the only person besides Danny left in the room. The blob looked between the two and seemed to grin. He moved towards the man, placing a hand on his head. Danny's hand rested on the closet object to him- a chair- as his heart pounded in his chest.

A chair?

He could use that.

Danny whipped the chair at the blob. Its form flickered again as the chair sailed through it. "No," Danny muttered, backing away. "No no no no-" The blob's lips were dripping green slime as it lunged at him.

Danny was pushed away, thrown back. He tried to move forward and found that a strange world had opened up in front of him.

It was green, mostly. Bits were purple, blue, or red, but most of it was hundreds of versions of green. And it had rippled, twisted, as the thing which swallowed his home appeared- _a portal,_ said a little voice in his mind. _That's a portal._ Danny wanted to scream, but no sounds would come from his mouth. The green shivered and twisted, taking the shape of something else. It was huge, it was twisted, it was… it was home.

A mutated version of FentonWorks took shape around the portal which had swallowed it. The door of the building moved slowly and- and-

 _"Time to switch,"_ A too-sweet voice said. _"They don't like me much. Time to switch, dear friend."_

The first thing Danny was aware of was two voices, just loud enough for him to hear. "Amazing. And it hasn't dissolved?"

"I believe it has to do with the boy, Sir. We took samples and he seems to have something in his genetic structure that stabilizes ectoplasm."

"Fascinating. Do we have a name?"

"Student ID says Daniel Fenton."

"Hm. Are you certain he's a Fenton?"

"Yes, Sir. Aside from the obvious side effects of overshadowing he matches the ID perfectly. The trainee Duncan Stone also suffered additional injuries after the boy was contained; his sister arrived on the scene, demanding to know what was happening to her brother. Agent Q was forced to restrain her when it got violent."

"How badly is he hurt?"

"Wrist is broken, in addition to his nose. He's been seen to. However… he was awfully concerned about our latest person of interest."

Danny groaned loudly, proud of himself for at last making such a noise. He had to blink several times before his vision was even remotely clear, and he found it was coated with a green tinge. He was tied to something. There was some cold metal thing strapped around his wrists and ankles. He was held in an uncomfortable stretched out Y-like position, with his legs together and arms above his head. In the back of his mind, past the crushing fear and internal screaming, a quiet voice said _well, at least I'm not naked._

"Makenzie, was it?"

"Yes Sir, Trainee Maria Makenzie. What do you need, Agent C?"

"It appears our person of interest, as you put it, has awoken. Fetch Agent W, and make sure Trainee Stone stays away."

"Yes sir!"

"I- I'm confused," Danny muttered, shifting as much as he could. "I- I don't- who are you and what am I doing here?!"

" _Sorry friend…"_   Said the voice again, _"They want me…"_

"I'm not your friend." Danny muttered, looking around as much as he could. It hurt to move. "I'm not your friend so get- _out_ \- of me-"

" _But friend… friiieeend… you wouldn't want to be a bad friend to me. Otherwise you'll never see your parents again… so be a good friend."_

Danny could feel something pushing against his mind. It hurt. It hurt so much. "What do you know about my parents?"

" _Be a good friend… and you'll see them again."_ A scene was forced before Danny's eyes; the blob-thing fit right in with the world of green. But his parents… his parents…

His parents were there, just as he remembered them from the day before it all went wrong. They were in the pajamas they'd worn that morning to breakfast, but they were there. They were okay. They were alive.

" _Now… be a good friend… and get us out of here. Keep me safe… and they'll be fiiiiiiine."_

Danny nodded. "Okay. Okay. I- I will." _I'm coming Mom and Dad._

The voice in the back of his mind, once cautiously optimistic, was now replaced by a screaming of something being horribly wrong.


	2. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, making a deal with the ghost possessing him was not Danny's best plan.

**Part 2;**

A bald man with light brown skin and eyes came into Danny's view. Danny let loose a scream and tried desperately to pull himself loose, much to the man's apparent amusement.

"Comfortable, ghost?" What had he been called? Agent C? To be honest, Danny wasn't entirely sure and didn't quite care.

"I- I'm not-"

"Your lies will get you nowhere," Agent C said, "Now, the law says I must first separate you from any _humanity_ before continuing my experiments. However… seeing as this human is the only thing keeping you stable, I believe we can make an exception."

"P-please!" Danny said, "Let- if you let me go, and- and people ask where I was- I'll lie! They'll never know! Please!"

_"Oh no, friend, you'll have to do so much better… if you want your family to live."_

Agent C reached a hand towards Danny's face, resting his palm on the teen's forehead. Using two fingers he pulled back Danny's eye lids. "Why would it give you control?"

Danny shook his head, trying to dislodge the man's fingers. "Get off of me!"

"Of course," He stepped back. "Agent W, wonderful to see you. I trust you've already been briefed?"

"Of course," A woman with dark brown hair pulled into a bun entered Danny's view. "So that portal finally spit something out. I'll admit, when Q insisted we guard it, I was skeptical. But now we've got an _excellent_ case of possession!" She took a few more steps towards Danny, who was trying not to start screaming again. "Aw, he's so small. What class of ghost do we have controlling him?"

"Nobody's controlling me!" Danny shouted, trying desperately to pull his wrists free. "Please, let me go!"

Agent W raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Now this is a surprise. Why would it willingly give up control?"

Agent C had moved out of Danny's sight, despite how the teen strained his neck in an effort to watch. "If you want to study the human, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Danny stretched out a hand as Agent W moved towards her co-worker. His fingers could nearly reach her arm. Maybe, if he could touch her, she'd realize that he was _human_ and they should not be doing this to a human- "Oh, no, please; go ahead."

"No," Danny muttered, "No no no- _help!"_ Danny didn't know who he was calling too. He didn't care. "Help me! Someone, please! Please!"

_"You're not very good at this, are you?"_

"Shut up!" Danny snapped, "Just- just shut up! _Help!"_

"He's got a set of lungs," Agent C said as Agent W stepped back into Danny's view.

"This will hurt less," She said, "If you stop struggling. Nobody is coming to help you. Nobody would, not while you're harboring that thing. So be a dear and be quiet, hmm?"

Danny narrowed his eyes and spit in her face.

_"I suppose I'll have to lend a hand… I'm disappointed, friend. So very disappointed… I don't have much power to waste helping you fill your end of our deal…"_

Agent W reeled back and backhanded Danny's cheek. "Agent C, are these cuffs electrified?"

It was only moments after she finished speaking that the air seemed to get thicker and the green tinge disappeared.

"W, guard the door." Agent C was still eerily calm as his partner walked away, "It's going to trying something."

"Oh?" Danny's eyes were burning and it felt _horrible_ to hear that too-sweet tone come from his own mouth. "Now that was terribly rude," Danny heard his voice say and he felt his jaw move. "I'm afraid you'll both have to pay for it."

"I'm terrified," Agent C said, tone unchanged.

"As you should be. Oh, my friend, sit back and enjoy the show."

 _Give it back._ Danny's voice was barely worthy of being called a thought, _give… it… back!_

Something exploded and Danny heard Agent W scream. Green smoke filled the room for a few moments when Agent C raised his gun and fired a shot. A moment later, the limp body of Agent W was thrown at his feet. The room _stunk_ , and Danny wanted to hurl.

Agent C fired another shot, but there was no hint that it hit anything. "Show yourself!"

A man rushed from the smoke and stabbed Agent C in the chest.

Blood stained his shirt as Agent C collapsed, and Danny wanted to scream. He recognized that man; his jacket was torn from when he'd burst through the classroom's window. He'd seemed like some sort of superhero in that moment, but now, covered in _human_ blood and with that blank look in his eyes…

If Danny had any control over himself he would have had a terrified, sobbing breakdown right then and there. Sensing- or perhaps feeling- Danny's fear, the teen was soon cast back into the swirling world of green.

"…Mom?" He called, "Dad?" He was much calmer now, surrounded by this shifting place. It was very soothing. "Are you here?"

The world offered no reply. Danny frowned, trying to look around. There was nothing in any direction but more green.

"I- I want out," Danny said, "Please, let me out."

Around him, the world spun. Danny reached out a hand to touch it, and watched as it shivered. In front of him, a scene twisted itself into place. There was a young woman dressed in one of those white suits with her blonde hair pulled back and tears making her makeup run.

"Duncan," She whispered, and the scene pulled back. That man- Duncan- had pinned her to a fence with a knife to her throat. "Duncan, please… please come back… Duncan-"

"Enough," Said not-Danny with that too-sweet voice, "Kill her."

"No!" Enough people had died. Enough people had suffered. Danny burst through the illusion, screaming as it shattered and dug into his skin. He was still scared- oh, he was so scared- but he could save her. And Danny had to save her. "Let. Me. _Out!"_

Danny stumbled as he was thrown back into his body. They were no longer in the building, and there were several bloody handprints on his shirt. Right in front of him, Duncan had pinned the woman to the wall. His hands were shaking, but he hadn't hurt her.

 _I'm not too late!_ Danny rushed forwards, attempting to push Duncan away from the woman. The man dropped his weapon the second Danny shoved him, falling to the ground and clutching his head.

"Duncan…?" The woman said softly, taking a step towards him.

"It's okay!" Danny held up his hands, "I've got this, it's under control. Please, go!"

The woman gave him a terrified look and ran.

" _What are you doing?!"_ The sweet tone was dropped and Danny sighed with relief. He'd hated it.

"You're not going to hurt them," He said, moving towards the man. He wasn't really moving anymore. "I won't let you."

" _I was helping you, friend, and this is how you repay me? You've already failed to keep your end of the deal… and forced it on me… you should consider yourself lucky, friend, that I'm still willing to reunite your family…"_

"You were helping yourself, not me," Danny said, kicking the knife away from the man. "You did something to him. Let him go."

" _If you wish for your parents to survive… and all those other innocent people… you will let me use this one."_

A siren rang through the air. Danny threw his hands over his ears, but Duncan did not move.

" _Ah, she alerted them to our escape… you shouldn't have reacted like that, friend. Now they'll never let us go willingly."_

"They weren't going to before," Danny pointed out.

" _Ah, that is true, friend. But you seem to have forgotten someone… if you were to die here, because of what we have done… than your dear sister would be all alone. She'd never even know what happened to you."_ Danny flinched, and the ghost continued. _"She fought so hard to stop them from taking us away… you wouldn't want that to be for nothing, would you? In fact, they may be so angry at us, that she will be their next target."_

Danny stared at Duncan, still caught up in whatever that _monster_ had done to him. _I'm sorry…_ "Fine," Danny whispered, "Fine, you can- you can use him or whatever. Just get me out of here." _I'm so sorry._

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny played with the seatbelt of his passenger seat, looking everywhere but at the man beside him. The ghost had somehow managed to get Duncan to drive them away without taking control of Danny again, but that didn't make it okay. That didn't make any of this okay.

Danny yanked on his seatbelt before letting it go, watching the slack fall into his lap. He ran his hands through his hair, taking a shaking breath in. He couldn't do this. He didn't want to. But Jazz, and his parents… he could bring them back…

But he also had a murderous slime monster in his head that had killed at least two people.

"Um, hey," Danny said, staring out the window. They were by a lake, and he could see a couple people in boats out on it. "Can you hear me?" The voice in his head didn't reply, "Um… I was thinking… maybe you could tell me your name? Or I could give you a nickname? Like, um… I don't know. Sam and Tucker are better at these things. I- I was thinking I could call you, um, Phantom or something? Would that be-"

_"If you wish to continue your existence you will never refer to me by the name of that disgrace."_

"Jeez, sorry," Danny held up his hands in surrender, remembered the ghost couldn't see them, and awkwardly lowered them. "So, do- do you have a name or- I could think another one up or something. Uhhh… Switcheroo?"

_"I will pretend you never suggested that, my friend. My name is Elijah."_

"Oh, cool. I'm Danny- which you already knew." He cleared his throat. He had to focus. Maybe if he did this right, Elijah would like him and let him keep control. Then nobody else had to die. "What makes Phantom so disgraceful?"

_"If that brat had never attacked me- unprovoked, I will add- I never would be in this situation in the first place. He isn't nearly as kind as you are, friend. You've been so kind… I shudder to think of what would have happened if I had not moved for you. Both your parents and I would be in a much worse place. They will be so happy to see you…"_

Danny didn't reply to that, catching Duncan's face reflected in the window. "And what about him? Who is he?"

" _Ah… well… I believe… you should ask him that yourself…"_

Elijah sounded exhausted. "Are you okay?" Danny asked, and then the car screeched to a halt.

Danny yelped, hitting the back of his head against the seat. He turned to look at Duncan and saw that all the blood had drained from the man's face. His knuckles were white, and he gripped the steering wheel as if his life depended on it.

"Who are you and where am I?" He spoke quickly, not quite looking over at Danny.

"I'm Danny, and uh… I don't actually know." Danny put one hand on his seatbelt buckle and the other on the door handle. "You were the one driving. What do you remember?"

Duncan stared at him. "Is that blood?"

Danny undid his seatbelt. "I'm not really hurt, and uh… neither are you." _If you ignore my mind-buddy, Elijah the slime man, I'm technically fine. Oh god I hope he can't hear my thoughts._

Duncan's eyes widen as he looked down at his jacket, "Jesus Christ." He ripped it off and threw it in the backseat, shaking as he ran a hand through his hair. "I… I… what happened?"

"What do you remember?" Danny asked again, right hand still resting on the door.

Duncan took a deep breath in and fixed Danny with a glare, "That is official government business."

Danny raised an eyebrow as he pointed over his shoulder. "Is being by a random lake with a fourteen-year-old boy also official government business?"

"Lake?" He shook his head, staring out the window. "Yes… yes I- that town was by Lake Erie. We were stationed there, guarding that thing…"

Danny ran his teeth over his lip and hoped he was wrong. "Are you talking about Amity Park?" Duncan's silence was answer enough, "What thing were you guarding?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a clouded memory made itself known. After the portal had stolen his home, someone had pulled him and Jazz away from it… he'd thought they were police. But hadn't they been wearing white?

"Is it a portal?" Danny asked, breaking the silence Duncan was apparently enforcing. "The portal to um- um-" Where had his parents said it went?

"The Ghost Zone," Duncan finished. Right, that was it. "How do you know all this?"

 _I have a dead person currently living in my skull._ "My last name's Fenton," Danny said, "Is that good enough?"

Duncan blinked, shaking his head as he started up the car again. He pulled a U-turn which was probably very illegal and started back in the direction they'd come from. "We need to get help."

"Why do we need to get help this way?!" Danny said, reaching for his seatbelt.

"That way is a gravel road," Duncan said. "We need civilization- a phone. I have reason to believe that a ghost may have affected us both in some way. My co-workers will be able to help us, we deal with this sort of thing all the time-" Danny felt as if he'd been thrown back, and Duncan's voice was suddenly very far away. He couldn't quite make out any of the words being said, and then his eyes started to burn.

His hand moved out of Danny's control, grabbing a knife from a glovebox. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Elijah said, and everything in Danny's view turned green.

.-.-.-.-.-.

He was in a forest when he came back. It was cold, wet, and there was a lot more blood on him than before.

Danny shook and it was hard for him to keep breathing. He knew he should be terrified; screaming for help and having a breakdown as long as this monster was in his head. He wanted it _out._ He wanted this to be over. Everyone he went near died! Was it really worth all this, just to bring his family back? How many families had he ruined already? How many moms, dads, brothers, or sisters wouldn't be coming home because of him? Because he hadn't been strong enough to fight back and protect the people who were only doing their jobs.

Danny's twisted ankle had ended up in a patch of weird flowers; they were red with purple stems. They looked like something Sam would like.

 _Sam. Oh, Sam, I'm so sorry._ He ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. It didn't work, but at least the numbness was gone.

Danny pulled his leg out of the weird flowers, wincing as their thorns scratched him. He curled up into something similar to the fetal position, forehead touching the ground. "I'm sorry," His voice broke and grew louder, "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry Mom, I'm sorry Dad… Jazz, Tucker, Sam… I'm sorry I'm such a screw up, I'm sorry I can't help you, I'm so sorry-!" His words died off as his tears rushed out, bringing with them the emotions Danny had been holding back all day. _I can't do this,_ his mouth moved but the words remained thoughts. _I want to go home._

If Danny had been aware of his surroundings, he would have noticed that he wasn't alone much sooner than he had. Danny's head jerked up as he became aware of someone to his right. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a little voice pointed out how pitiful he must look. He was coated in a mixture of blood, sweat, mud, snot, and tears.

Vlad Masters simply pocketed his cell phone and looked at him curiously.

Danny pulled himself back, trying to stop his still-flowing tears. "Get- get away!"

Vlad looked at the patch of flowers uneasily before shifting his attention back to Danny. "What are you doing out here?"

"I said get away!" Danny shuffled back, "I- I- _go away!_ "

"And why would I do that?" Vlad had some sort of pink flashlight, though Danny didn't pay much attention to it. He was too busy trying to force himself up before Elijah came back and killed his parents' old friend, too.

"I'm _dangerous!_ " Danny snapped, "I'm dangerous, okay?! So get away! Please!"

"I highly doubt a child like you could be remotely dangerous." Vlad took another step forwards, and Danny shuffled a little farther back. "I would appreciate it if you would cease your attempts to flatten those blood blossoms. I'd rather not die tonight."

"Blood- _what?!_ " Danny yanked his ankle out of the flower patch, taking a shaking breath in.

"And if you're going to have a mental breakdown," Vlad continued, "In the future please refrain from doing so near my hotel room. You're awfully distracting."

"H-hotel?" No. _No._ Elijah had brought them to where there were more people he could hurt. Danny failed to hold his tears back this time, a held his knees close to his chest as he broke down again. "N-no, no I- I'm so sorry." _I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry, Dad._ "I'm sorry, Jazz…"

"Jazz?" Vlad took a step forwards, shining the light on Danny. "Daniel Fenton?"

"Get away," Danny whispered, "Get away, please. Please you were my parents' friend I don't want to hurt you, too."

Vlad closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds and pulled Danny to his feet. "Come along," He said, half-carrying Danny forwards.

"What?" Danny attempted to pull away from the man he barely knew, "No- no, let me go! He's going to hurt you! He's going to come back!"

"We're going to get you cleaned up," Vlad said, "And then you're going to tell me exactly who this 'he' is."

Elijah picked that moment to return, causing Danny to suck in a terrified breath. _"If you tell that abomination anything about me I can guarantee your sister will not live to see her next birthday."_


	3. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Vlad, not everyone with a ghost inside of them is a Halfa. You can't just assume stuff like that. You look like an idiot.

**Part 3;**

Vlad was staying at a lakefront hotel unlike anything Danny had even seen before. Though, considering that he hadn't exactly been to a hotel before, that wasn't too difficult to manage. The lobby had a fountain in it, and a receptionist that sent Danny a _very_ judging look when he passed by. Danny offered her a smile, hoping she didn't realize he was covered in blood.

Vlad unlocked his hotel room and guided Danny into the bathroom. "Take a shower, please. You're among civilized people now and you cannot be looking like that."

Danny nodded and stepped into the bathroom. It was huge; the bathtub looked more like a hot tub, and the shower was in an entirely different section. Everything smelled kind of like the mountains. Danny took much longer in the shower than he normally did, keeping his eyes closed so that there was no possibility Elijah would watch.

There was a new outfit waiting for him when Danny got out. Almost all of it fit perfectly, though the sweater was slightly too big. His old clothes were gone, and Danny wondered for several long moments when Vlad had been able to switch them.

The older man was waiting for him when Danny did eventually emerge from the bathroom, sitting calmly in a chair with another across from him. There was a large platter of cheese, bread, and meat sitting beside him. "Are you ready to explain yourself?"

"Where'd my clothes go?" Danny asked instead.

"In the state they were in you should be thankful I replaced them." He motioned to the chair, "Sit, please."

Danny shook his head, taking several steps back. He needed to get out before Elijah took control again.

"Don't try to pretend you aren't hungry," Vlad said, and for a moment his voice softened. "I assure you Daniel, we are both safe here. I can hold my own against anything you do. I only wish to help you."

Danny's stomach grumbled and he wrapped his hands around it. "I can't. I- I'm sorry, I can't."

Vlad stood, crossed the room to Danny's side in a matter of seconds, grabbed onto the teen by his shoulder and forced him into the chair. "Perhaps I wasn't clear," He said. "You will sit there, you will eat something so that you don't pass out on me, and you will explain exactly why I found you covered in blood in that forest!"

"I can't!"

"No, you won't. There is a difference, dear boy." Vlad's grip was starting to hurt, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't turn you over to the authorities."

Danny attempted to pull away, but Vlad was much stronger. "I _can't!"_

"Again, you won't. This is basic grammar, Daniel."

"No, I- I- if I tell you he's going to kill Jazz!" Danny flinched, waiting for a reaction from Elijah, but instead was treated to Vlad removing his hand from his shoulders.

"Was that so difficult?" He sat down in the other chair, holding some sort of pastry towards Danny. "Please, eat something."

Danny took a bite, chewing slowly. _I didn't mention Elijah directly so… so it's all okay, right? Right?_

"Who is going to kill your sister?" Vlad asked, and Danny stuffed the rest of the pastry in his mouth. "We're going to sit here until you answer all of my questions, so I suggest you stop avoiding the topic and give me an answer."

"I can't- won't, shut up." Danny ran a hand through his hair, "If I tell you anything about him then Jazz is going to be in danger. He- he told me. In the forest."

"We were alone in the forest," Vlad said. There was something about his tone that Danny couldn't quite grasp. It sounded vaguely like he was hopeful, but that didn't make any sense. Why would Danny having a murderous slime ghost in his head make Vlad _hopeful?_

"Yeah," Danny said, "You'd think that."

Vlad hesitated, staring at Danny for several long moments. Danny made no effort to break the silence, and honestly, he was surprised Elijah had stayed silent for so long. Last time he'd gone oddly quiet, he'd ended up killing Duncan.  _Oh no Vlad's next._

"Daniel," Vlad spoke slowly, "You know what a portal to the Ghost Zone is, correct?"

 _What does that have to do with anything?_ "Uh, do you mean the thing that ate my house and stole my parents?" It was amazing how much less that entire thing hurt when he said it as a joke. "Then yes."

"How close were you to it?"

Danny shrugged. He honestly didn't know. "I- I wasn't paying much attention."

"I find that difficult to believe. So this being, shall we say, who was with us in the forest, does he have a name?"

Danny sat up a little straighter, "How'd you know it was a he?"

"Answer the question, Daniel."

"I don't want Jazz to be hurt," Danny muttered, "So sorry, no." _Does he know Elijah? Is that why he was hopeful? Elijah really doesn't like him, so maybe they're mortal enemies or something. Oh god Vlad's going to kill me to get to Elijah. Is the food poisoned? How much does he know?!_

Seeming to have noticed Danny's internal panic, Vlad pointed a remote at the window. The binds parted, revealing that the outside world had taken on a pink tinge. "This is a ghost shield. I created it specifically to render any ghost, unless I've specifically programmed it to ignore their ectosignature, in a state similar to hibernation. It also keeps the majority of the ambient ectoplasm away from my room, so none of their powers are able to activate." He closed the curtain, "The being you are afraid of is powerless here. As long as you remain in this room, you are safe."

 _Safe._ Danny was tempted to tell Vlad everything right then and there. But then he thought of the green thing Agents C and W had used. "I don't think it can stop him. He- he can do things, control people. Even when there are shields." Danny shivered. Vlad stood up and grabbed a blanket, draping it over Danny's shoulders. He offered him another pastry, which the teen ate before continuing. "There were these guys- white suits, calling each other Agent Letter instead of a name- and they had something like that. It was green. He took control and it just- it broke." _And then he killed them._ Danny closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to push away the memory.

"You killed members of the Guys in White?" Vlad said, "Hm. And here I had assumed you'd attacked someone for the enjoyment of it."

"I didn't, _he_ did!" Danny's eyes were open again and he'd fixed Vlad with a pleading look. "It's not my fault!"

"Calm yourself, Daniel," Vlad said. "You had no choice; had they been allowed to examine you, you would have found yourself on the wrong end of a vivisection."

"Vivi _what?_ " Danny sucked in a breath of air, trying his best not to scream. Vlad scratched his ear, shook his head, and looked as if he was hearing something Danny could not. Danny leaned back and wrapped himself in the blanket, "A-are you okay?" _Am I okay?_

"Yes, fine, of course." Vlad handed Danny a different remote as he stood, "If you'll excuse me for a moment, there's something I must attend to. Feel free to watch something and think over our conversation so far." He moved back over to something near the curtains- a door that Danny hadn't noticed, apparently- and stepped out onto a balcony.

Danny stared at the remote, attempted to figure out where the 'on' button was before pressing it accidentally, and jumped when the TV revealed itself to be built into the wall _._

The news was playing. The woman finished up her report on some boating accident before moving on to other things. Danny went back to messing with the remote, only to look up when the TV said his name. "The Amber Alert issued yesterday for Danny Fenton has been extended to Ontario, Canada…"

Danny's attention snapped back to the TV. _Yesterday?_ How long had been with those Guys in White? How long had he been in that forest?!

Danny took a step forward when the news threw his sister's name in, and the screen switched to Jazz. She looked horrible, even worse than she had when their parents had died. "Please," Her voice shook and there were tears in her eyes. "Please bring him back. I'll do anything. I'll give you anything. Just give me my brother back." She had to take a moment, "I can't lose him too. Not after Mom and Dad. I know these never work, but _please."_   He could barely hear her, "Please."

"Jazz…" Danny wiped his eyes on the blanket, _I'm sorry._

The news lady said that there was a hundred thousand dollar reward for any information which led to him being returned safe and sound. Danny switched off the TV, dropped the blanket on Vlad's chair, and grabbed the hotel phone. He had to get home. He had to do _something!_

Danny dialed the number he'd memorized years ago, when his best friend had gotten his first cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Tucker," Danny's voice shook and he had to take a breath in, "Hi."

There was a crash, "Danny?!"

He forced a smile his friend couldn't see, "I hope so."

"Jesus Christ," Tucker whispered, "Hold on, I- Sam! It's Danny!"

There was a second crash, a scream of _"WHAT?!"_ and the sound of Tucker being pushed aside. "Daniel Fenton," Sam burst out, "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Sam," Something seemed to flash out on the balcony. Danny backed away from the window, thankful the phone was cordless, and went to hide in the bathroom. "Oh my god it's so good to hear your voice."

"I'm going to kill you," Sam screamed, "Do you have any idea how worried we were?! We thought you were dead!"

"Then killing me might be a bit counter-productive," Danny pointed out.

Tucker grabbed his phone back and there was the sound of him messing with something. "You're on speaker. Where are you?"

"A hotel bathroom," Danny said, "Somewhere near a forest and a lake. Where's Jazz?"

"Home, trying to sleep I think." Tucker said, "We're at Sam's. Do you know anything about the hotel? One of the towels might have a name or something on it. Dammit, I should have gotten caller ID!"

"Why didn't you?" Sam asked.

"It was five extra dollars! Unlike you, I'm not made of money."

"Excuse me?"

"No, guys, please don't do this now." Danny sighed, "So uh, the guys who grabbed me? They're gone. They've been dealt with." He took a deep breath in, "There… there is another problem, though. His name is Elijah. He- he's the one who dealt with them."

"Someone got kidnapped with you?" Sam asked.

"Not really. It's- it's more so they were going for him and I kind of got dragged along."

"Really?" Tucker asked, "That's not what Jazz said. Did it really take five of them to grab you?"

"Did you really bite a chunk out of one's arm?" Sam asked, "Because that's disgusting."

"Maybe? And if I did, ew." Danny could taste blood. He shook his head and bent down to the sink, taking a long drink to attempt to get rid of the taste. "Let's not talk about them. Tell- tell Jazz I'm sorry, okay?"

"For what?" His friends asked in sync.

"For the stupid thing I'm about to do," Danny said, "And everything that comes after. I have a plan, kind of, but Elijah really scares me. He's got a body count. But he might be my best shot to make everything okay. So yeah, I'm sorry, but if this works I'll see her with Mom and Dad soon, okay?"

"Danny," Sam said slowly, "Your parents are dead."

"Maybe," Danny whispered, "Or maybe they're trapped. It's a risk I'm going to take. People are dead, Sam, and I don't want their deaths to be for nothing. I- I have to go now. I miss you guys. Tucker, make sure your parents know they're awesome, okay? And- and tell Valerie- you know, Valerie from the A-list? If you get a chance please tell her that the thing she did to Duncan- um, the guy who came through the window- was super cool. It really was. And tell Mikey I'm sorry for leaving that group project all on him. And-" There were so many more things he wanted to say. So many more regrets he wanted to clear up. But Danny didn't have the time. "And I miss you all." He took a deep breath in, trying to steady himself. "I'm sorry. Thank you for everything. 'Bye."

He hung up over the sound of his friends calling his name.

Danny moved out of the bathroom, replaced the phone, and looked out the window. Vlad wasn't on the balcony anymore. _He probably came back in, saw I wasn't there, and went to check the hallway._ Danny filled his pockets with food before he slipped out the door, through the shield, and took a moment to compose himself. "Are you there?"

 _"What did you tell him?!"_   The ghost demanded.

"Not much, but enough to make his suspicious." Danny said, doing his best not reveal his fear. He had to get rid of the ghost and he had to get home. It was terrifying, but this was his best shot. "If you want to keep it that way you will hear me out."

_"Hm… I'm listening."_

_That's a good sign._ "I'd like to reinstate our deal, but with some conditions." He continued over the start of Elijah's protests, "I'll get you to that green place. It's the Ghost Zone, right? That's all you want, isn't it; to go home." _You just have a super scary and violent way of going about it._ "I'll get you there- if, and only if- you agree to take me to my parents, show us all a way out, not to follow us out, and to never kill another human from this point onwards. Am I clear?"

_"Why should I agree to that, after your disastrous job at getting us away from those ghost hunters?"_

"Good question," Danny said, "Here's why; if you don't, I step back into that ghost shield and tell Vlad every single thing about you. You'll never get home, but I will. Either way, I win." Not really. It probably wouldn't work like that. If he came home empty handed then all this would be for nothing. People would have died all for nothing.

_"So either I do as you say or I perish."_

"Kind of sucks when you're on that end, doesn't it?" Danny grabbed the railing with his right hand, resisting the urge to hold it out to shake. "Do we have a deal?"

_"Do I have a choice?"_

"Tick-tock," Danny said, "I need a yes or a no or I go back inside the ghost shield."

_"Fine, I accept your deal."_

"Great!" Danny pumped his fist in the air, drowning his fear with false enthusiasm. "So point us to the nearest portal, Elijah, and we'll be home in no time." _And I'll have my family back together in no time._


	4. Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Danny learns about the history of the Ghost Zone from our local upstanding citizen, Elijah the slime man, who can totally be trusted. 100%.

**Part 4;**

Elijah had had done something which he referred to as 'turning intangible' and Danny had plummeted off the balcony. Despite the fact that he'd floated gently to the ground, Danny was strongly starting to reconsider this plan. Yelling for Vlad was quickly becoming more appealing.

 _"Enter that forest,"_ Elijah ordered. _"There should be a small clearing about seven minute walk away, which will do well for our needs. And avoid Blood Blossoms this time, please."_

Danny nodded, "Right, uh, those are flowers." He yawned, "…Those things are flowers, right?"

Elijah confirmed it, and Danny nearly walked into a tree branch. In hindsight, wandering off into the forest in the middle of the night was probably not his best plan. He was exhausted.

The ground was uneven, and every other minute Danny nearly tripped over some root he hadn't seen. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what Vlad was doing. The man definitely knew something about Danny's current situation. How had he reacted when he noticed that Danny was missing?

For a moment, Danny had a mental image of the billionaire running around and shouting his name. He winced and whispered an apology. _I never meant for any of this to happen._

_"What in Ghost Zone are you muttering about now?"_

"Uh…" Danny cleared his throat, "Just… what sort of portal we'll be using to get there. Because like, if it's as big as my parents' one-"

 _"Don't be absurd,"_ Elijah scoffed, _"That was a fluke, and is highly unstable. No, the natural portals are much, oddly enough, safer than that horrifying creation your parents made."_

"Horrifying?" Danny barely avoided being whacked in the face with an evergreen branch. "What's that supposed to mean?"

_"You didn't think a portal of that size and lack of stability was natural, did you?"_

Danny resisted the urge to point out that none of this was natural to him. "What do you mean, lack of stability?"

 _"I mean it's unstable. Do I need to spell this out for you? It's been draining the Ghost Zone of energy since its creation."_ He seemed to speak quieter for a moment, which was odd considering that Danny was the only one who could hear him. _"And though our wonderful King and Time Master won't admit it, they know just as well as I do who is behind it."_

"Who?" Danny found himself whispering as well, not even bothering to question what Elijah had meant by ghosts having a monarchy and whatever a Time Master was. "Is… is it Phantom?"

 _"Hm. That would not surprise me; that brat has a tendency to ruin everything he touches."_   Elijah hesitated before continuing, _"No, the being who caused that portal to reach such a level- and stole your parents away from you, my friend- is named Clockwork."_

"Clockwork," Danny repeated, stopping for a moment. "That portal is Clockwork's fault?"

_"Yes. Few other beings would be powerful enough to do such a thing, and it would explain the lack of information surrounding it. The King is attached to him since they formed together, and our current Time Master is a coward."_

"Time Master?" Danny continued walking, in a different direction now to avoid crossing a stream. "Um, what's that?"

 _"It was once a noble and honourable position that only those truly worthy could obtain. Not only was it required that you be the most intelligent and skilled being among the possible candidates, but you must also be able to handle the power contained in the staff. Few ghosts could do it, though many of us tried. I was one of the three who worked under the previous Master of Time who could. The other four- including that disgrace- were too weak, and not allowed to try for fear of seriously damaging their cores."_ For a moment his tone changed, not remotely close to the careful tone he'd been using before. He sounded almost like someone talking about a fond memory. _"Another of them was Gwen."_

"Gwen?" Danny took a running start and jumped across the stream, slipping on the opposite bank and throwing his arms out to support him. As the laid there in the mud, Danny strongly considered closing his eyes and just going to sleep.

Elijah meanwhile didn't seem to care about the exhausted teen he inhabited, and continued his story. _"Yes, Gwen. She was… extraordinary, we shall say. Highly intelligent and incredibly skilled with a sword, she truly was one of a kind. Her only flaw was that she was much too kind to inform Clockwork of how much she hated him. We all did, of course; he was unstable, and I don't just mean his core."_

Danny made the executive decision that he was too tired to protest or care. If Elijah wanted to tell him his life story and all about his weird crush, then he could do that.

 _"It was many years before I was able to rescue her from that monster. I had, after all, made my dislike of him rather obvious early on. She took quite well to being part of my group, of course, as anyone would."_ He sounded smug for a second. Danny had a brief, mental vision of getting his fist stuck in the ghost when he tried to punch him. He wrinkled his nose and stood up, stumbling slightly as he continued forwards. _"We had a few wonderful years together before he stole them away from us. He attacked her in a fit of rage, and when I tried to defend my lovely he damaged my core. It's taken me perhaps two thousand years to reform myself into this disgusting thing, and it is all the fault of that waste of ectoplasm!"_

"Yikes," Danny yawned, "That sounds… fun."

_"Are you mocking me, my friend?"_

"No, no," A branch whacked him in the face and Danny hissed in pain. A sharp part had caught his lip and he could taste blood. "I just… portal, right? Portal, go home-"

_"If you are truly exhausted, I could resume control."_

"No," Danny said as firmly as he could. "It's my body. I'm in control." He moved into a large clearing, crossing from one side to the other.

_"Then I would appreciate if you listened to my words. Clockwork is dangerous, and as soon as we enter the Ghost Zone you will be at risk. If he has reason to believe I'm still in existence he will attack ruthlessly and show no mercy. You will not be spared for helping me."_

_Gee, thanks for telling me ahead of time._ "Great," Danny wiped the blood off his lip, trying to ignore the feeling which prickled at his skin. _Nobody's standing behind me. That's ridiculous. It's probably like, an owl or something._

"Daniel."

Danny yelped and spun on his heel, turning to face Vlad Masters. "I- um, I- I can-"

"Explain yourself?" Vlad asked, seeming to raise an eyebrow. It was hard to tell in the dim light. "Don't bother, Daniel, did you honestly believe I wasn't aware you'd run away?"

 _"Abomination,"_ Elijah hissed.

"How…" Danny stepped back, closer to the trees. "How did you know I would be here?"

"It's common sense, dear boy. You plan on entering the Ghost Zone," Vlad moved forwards, attempting to cross the clearing and reach Danny's side. "Am I wrong?"

"I- I need to save my parents!" Danny burst out, "They're still there, they're still in the Ghost Zone, they're just stuck or something but they're okay! I know because I've seen them!" His hands ran through his hair, almost pulling out fistfuls at a time before they dropped back to his side. "I have to help them. I'm the only one who can."

"Daniel," His tone was much softer now, and he barely moved as he spoke. "Was it the same being who threatened your sister that told you this?"

"No, no he showed me-" He sucked in a breath, "I can't explain it. But they're there. I saw them."

"They are not," Vlad said, "I have searched the entire Ghost Zone for any trace of them. I have eyes and ears all around it. Your parents are gone, Daniel, and the sooner you accept it-"

"Shut up," Danny cut him off. "Shut up shut up shut up _shut up!_ They're not gone! I saw them! _I saw them!"_   His eyes stung with tears that he was trying desperately to hold in. "You- you're just _human!_ You don't know what that place is like! You- you can't have gone in there and even if you did, then you missed a spot! You missed a spot and they're _there!_ They're there! They're alive! Elijah wouldn't lie to me about them!"

The older man stopped, "Elijah? That's his name, then?"

Danny could feel the ghost pulling at the corners of his mind and his eyes starting to sting. Danny fought back, clenching his fists as if that would somehow help him hold on. "No. It's _my_ body, you don't get to use it, you don't get to-"

_"You truly don't care about your sister's welfare, do you?"_

"Shut- shut up- we had a deal so just _shut up-_ "

Vlad took several steps forward, but his attempt to reach Danny was cut off as the clearing twisted around them. Sparks flew through the air and a circle of twisting green sprung out from around them. Danny stared at it for a few moments, reaching out a hand.

"A portal," He whispered. It was nothing like the one back in Amity; it was smaller, and the edges shivered. It seemed to move closer to him. _Mom, Dad… I'm coming._

"Daniel," Vlad said, moving forwards once again. He was nearly at Danny's side now. "Get away from that thing. Natural portals are unstable, don't  _touch_ it-"

"Sorry," Danny whispered and took a running leap in.

For a moment, he was suspended in a tunnel of green. And then it fell apart, bits of white eating away at the edges. Danny ran forwards, through the other end, and fell. Several moments later, he became aware of the fact he was lying face down on a large purple patch of ground.

Danny pushed himself up, trying to make sense of the world around him. It wasn't like Elijah had shown him, not exactly, but it was close enough and it was _real._

His chest twisted and heaved, and Danny screamed as Elijah forced them apart. It was strange to see the ghost in person again, and the fact that he seemed much more solid than before did little to calm Danny's hammering heart.

"Ah, my friend," Elijah held out a hand, helping Danny to his feet. "I must apologize for the events that occurred over the last two days. Self-preservation is a very powerful instinct, and you were the only thing keeping me from destabilizing. You understand, of course?"

"Yeah," Danny said, his voice barely more than a whisper. He did, in some twisted way. It made a lot more sense than it should.

"You look exhausted," His too-sweet tone, once the bane of Danny's existence, was now oddly comforting. "It will take much too long to reach your home. I have a place that is much closer; would you like to rest there?"

Danny nodded. Sleep… sleep would be good. He yawned, stumbling a bit.

"Look at you," Elijah said, "Hm, I suppose that we'll be resting for a lot longer than a day. But before we do that, I think we should prevent any other portals from forming. We don't want that abomination to follow us, do we? Use your blood, draw the symbol I'm thinking of on the ground. Come on, chop chop."

Nodding again, Danny raised his right hand to his mouth and bit down on the tip of his right middle finger.

He couldn't remember the rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second time with this fic alone that I've had it all written out but just haven't posted it. Third if you count the fact the final part still isn't on tumblr. It's a mess.


	5. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For once, it turns out that listening to the mysterious ghost who appeared out of nowhere would've actually been the right choice. Who knew?

**Part 5;**

The typical reaction to waking up alone in a strange room is to panic. Danny was sure he'd have been no different, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to. Being scared would take too much energy, and Danny couldn't find the will to do any more than lay there and watch the ceiling spin. There was a ticking noise somewhere by him, and his arms felt as if someone had pricked them with hundreds of needles. And judging by the bandages which coated his arms, that was entirely possible.

_Wait, bandages?_

Something moved by his side. Danny's face twitched as he felt something press against his lips. It was dry and tasted a bit like garlic, but felt more like a dried leaf. It took Danny a lot longer than it should have before he could swallow even a small piece of it. A rush of energy ripped through Danny as his heart skipped a painful beat. He rolled over, one hand on his chest, and spit the remains of the thing in his mouth on the floor. It looked almost like one of the petals from those Blood Blossoms.

"Oh dear," A voice said, low and calm. Danny looked around, trying to find the speaker, but found that his eyes wouldn't focus. He was reduced to looking at a mysterious and ticking broad-shouldered outline. "It seems someone gave you something to counteract those poisons you've been force-fed to keep you from fighting back. How incredibly tragic."

"Tha…" Danny's words wouldn't form. He coughed, beating a fist into his chest, and took in several deep breaths before he tried again. "Thank… you."

There was a pause in which the figure was still. "Don't say that. Go up the stairs and to the left. Do not confront anyone. You will lose and it could be years before I'm able to help you again."

"Wow," Danny muttered, squinting as he tried to get a clearer view of the other being. "Nice."

The ticking grew quieter, and Danny could see the outline shake. "I'm sorry," He disappeared, and Danny was left in silence.

His vision cleared a few moments later. Sitting up now, Danny took in his surroundings. The sweater he'd gotten from Vlad had been folded up for use as a makeshift pillow, and he was lying on top of some dusty old rag. His arms were coated in various somewhat bloody bandages and there were quite a few stains on the t-shirt Vlad had gotten him. The room he was in didn't seem to be much of a room; it was more of an island floating in green nothingness with twisted stairs leading to a random door.

Right. He was in the Ghost Zone. This was probably a normal dead person way of decorating or… something. It'd just be better if he didn't think about it. Danny moved to his feet, stumbled and fell, and sucked in a breath as his stomach grumbled. _Okay,_ he grabbed his sweater, reaching into one of the pockets. _Eat first, run for my life later._ He grabbed onto the first thing he could and shoved it into his mouth, spitting it out a moment later.

What had once been some sort of delicious pastry was now an absolutely disgusting ball of mold. Danny grabbed his sweater tighter and shook it, the rest of his snacks falling from his pocket and onto the ground. Each and every one of them was covered with mold.

"Oh my god," Danny whispered, dropping the sweater. "Oh my god I had that in my _mouth._ " He was on his feet again, backing up towards the stairs. _How long have I been here? How long have I-_ he stopped, clenching his fists. "Elijah."

Danny didn't turn left as the ticking being had instructed. He ran right, screaming the name of that slimy little liar. At one point, some sort of shadowy ghost tried to stop him. Danny punched them right in their stupid face and _man,_ did it feel good.

More shadow or blob ghosts came, and though Danny was starting to feel woozy, he attacked every one he could reach. They'd kidnapped him, they'd done _something_ to his body, and they'd kept him locked away. They could all burn for all Danny cared, but there was one he personally wanted to see suffer.

But logic began to overpower his rage when Danny realized he was losing. There were more ghosts appearing every second, and it was getting harder and harder to stand. He fell when he tried to run, and couldn't find the strength to get back up.

"You're not very good at this, are you?" One of the blobby ghosts said. "Contact Elijah, tell him his little pet has escaped."

"Pet?" Danny struggled to push himself up, _"Pet?!"_

For a moment, he thought it would be like the movies. Those words would give him the strength to get up, to keep fighting, to get home. But as weird as Danny Fenton's life was, it wasn't some story. It was real, and as he fell to the floor once again Danny was sorely reminded of that fact. The laughter which echoed as a result of his feeble escape attempt drove it in a little further.

"Yes dear," The blob said, "Pet; short for pet project. He wants to get rid of the Master of Time, and what better way than to use what is basically an acid which only affects Timey ghosts?" They lowered their voice, as if their message was some sort of secret. "Human blood."

"You took my _blood?!"_ Danny could barely breathe; everything seemed to get caught in his throat. "You- you-"

"We- we-" The ghost mocked him, clasping their hands. The laughter increased and Danny wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor. For a second he thought he would, and his heart skipped another beat. Instead the ghost reached forward, pulling him off the floor by the front of his shirt. "You're adorable."

Danny replied the only way he could at this point; he spit at them.

And apparently his spit had magical demon-summoning powers, because all around him an army of green ghost skeletons popped up. Danny shrunk back, and much to his surprise, saw the other ghosts do the same. They didn't try to fight against the skeletons that swarmed through their ranks, though for a moment Danny saw fear in the eyes of the blob that had taunted him.

The skeletons spoke as one, "For conspiring against the King of all Ghosts and the Master of Time, you are all under arrest. Do not resist or you will be destroyed."

"We have committed no crime!" One shadow shouted, "You all look down on us because of our weaker forms and seek to end our existences! This raid is only happening because of that fact! We have committed no crime!"

"So- so stealing blood is legal then?" Danny said, "That's- that's nice." The blob who was holding him slapped him.

There was a moment of hesitation before the air around them twisted and another ghost appeared. He had a cape, blue skin, and hair styled into two giant points. "I assure you, that is not the case. If you are not guilty as you claim, you will face no-" The ghost turned, and Danny noticed three more things about him; he had a green skull pin-thing on a sash, he had fangs, and the ghost was staring straight at him. "Daniel?"

"Oh god," Danny whispered, his voice barely audible, "A vampire." _How does he know my name?!_

The ghost who had been holding Danny dropped him, holding up their hands. "General Plasmius, I can explain-"

"The rumors were true," Plasmius said, floating over to Danny and picking him up. He addressed the skeletons now, ignoring Danny's weak hits as he attempted to escape. "Kill them all."

The world twisted and Danny found himself having a coughing fit on another island. The vampire-like ghost was beside him, muttering something that Danny couldn't quite catch. Several minutes had to have passed before Danny could breathe clearly again, and there was a glob of ectoplasm on the ground by his mouth. Plasmius placed a hand on his back in a motion that, had he been human, would have been comforting. Instead it caused Danny's heart to start pounding again. He jerked away, biting down on his lip. The words his parents had said all his life echoed in the back of his mind; "All ghosts are evil."

Some part of Danny has always had doubts about that theory. But if nothing else, Elijah had certainly proved it. There was no way he'd be making the mistake of trusting one of those monsters again.

Plasmius pulled his hand away and stood, watching as Danny struggled to even sit up. "I'm not going to hurt you," He said.

"Right," Danny whispered, _just like Elijah was going to take me back to my parents._

Plasmius watched him for a moment longer before he said, "We need to get you out of here."

"You need to get away from me," Danny's voice was hoarse, and the small rock he threw in an effort to enforce his point landed just in front of the unimpressed ghost. "Get- get-" His words failed him once again.

"No," Plasmius said. "I'll take you somewhere to heal, and if my suspicions are correct the King will want nothing more than to hear what you have to say-" He cut off abruptly.

"Walk off the edge of this island," The too-sweet voice said, "Fall until you hit the bottom. Break something, please." Danny watched in horror as the ghost nodded and moved past Danny, revealing the blob behind him. "Hello, my friend."

"You lied to me," Danny said, his anger replaced by a terrifying numbness.

"Yes, I did; I did that for quite a while, and to be perfectly honest I'm surprised it fooled you for as long as it did."

"You were never-" Danny's voice failed. He tried again, with a different phrasing. "My parents-"

"Gone," He said, "Terribly tragic, too. They spun a tale that could break even the emotionless shell of an Observant. But King Pariah is not an Observant," He grinned, "And I bet he _loved_ to hear them beg and scream to be returned to their home while he painted the walls with their blood. It makes a very nice finish, I've heard."

"No," Danny whispered, _no no no no no-_ "I saw them."

"You saw what I wanted you to see, based on what I pulled from your recent memories." Elijah's grin widened, "Didn't you wonder why they looked exactly like they had in your little fantasy?"

Danny hadn't. Too caught up in the chance that his parents could be alive, he'd ignored every little feeling about something being wrong and followed Elijah's claims blindly.

He wouldn't be making that mistake again.

Danny moved back as much as he could, fixing Elijah with a glare. He could feel the edge of the island under his fingers, and felt his heart pound in his chest. "Burn in hell." He dropped off the edge.

Elijah threw himself forwards, hand wrapping around Danny's wrist and pulling him back onto the island. He threw him, and Danny felt his skin peel back as he slid across the ground. "Did you honestly believe I'd let you escape like she did?!" He grabbed Danny by his shirt, lifting him off the ground. "I own you now, _friend._ You're my ticket to getting my revenge on that mistake; did you really think I'd let you leave?" He threw Danny back onto the ground, and the teen found he didn't have the strength to even sit up. "You are _mine."_

"I'm nobody's," Danny said.

"I don't care how long it takes," Elijah said, "I'm a very patient man. I will break you, piece by piece. And I believe I'll start with your arm." He reached down, putting his hand on one of the bandages where the blood hadn't completely dried. Danny took great pleasure in hearing Elijah scream and watching the ghost pull away, clutching his damaged hand.

Again a phrase echoed through Danny's mind; that ghost who'd been mocking him said that human blood was like acid to Timey ghosts. If Elijah had been in line to become something called a Time Master, was it really so much of a stretch to believe that he was one of those?

Danny bit down on his hand until he tasted blood and shoved it against Elijah. The ghost screamed, but Danny made no move to pull his hand away. "This is for my mom," He said, putting as much force into his words as he could muster. "And this is for my dad. For Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Vlad, and all those people you killed! I hope you _burn!"_   He kicked the ghost away and moved back to the other edge of the island. Danny watched as Elijah struggled to stand, fury drowning out his pain. "You don't own me."

He fell back, and once again ticking surrounded him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating fics is difficult when your house gets struck by lightning and everything is broken. Seriously. It even broke our dishwasher.


	6. Purpose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, your life doesn't go as planned. Sometimes, people lie, and people get hurt. Sometimes there's no way to fix everything.
> 
> And sometimes, you just need to go home.

**Part 6;**

Danny groaned as his alarm beeped and he fumbled lamely around to turn it off. Tired and sore, he wanted nothing more than to sleep. He'd get up when the alarm on his watch went off-

Danny's eyes snapped opened again and he stared straight ahead at the wall of his bedroom.

"What the-" He interrupted himself with a coughing fit. Several minutes passed and much more ectoplasm was spat onto his sheets before Danny could focus again.

He was home.

Danny slowly moved himself out of the bed, eyeing the first aid kit set at the end. New bandages covered his arms, and though he still wasn't feeling too good he could actually walk again. His room wasn't dusty, and gave no sign of having gone for so long without its inhabitant. The model rockets still rested on shelves, his watch was still on his nightstand where he'd forgotten it, and his childhood stuffed animal- Charles Bearwin- still sat inside of his dresser. His clothes were still unfolded, with plenty flung around on the ground. His curtains were still half closed, his beanbag chair still had a hole in the side that was covered by a piece of tape, and the dead fly he'd been meaning to get rid of was still crumpled up by the window.

"Mom?" He cleared his throat, "Dad?"

There was a noise in the hallway. Danny rushed out of his room, only to find nothing but a large suitcase sitting in the middle of the hall. It must've fallen out of the closet.

"Mom?" He called again, "Dad?" Danny took a few steps forwards, eyes still fixed on the suitcase. "I have to leave," He said, not sure who he was talking too. "Jazz needs me. I can't come back. I-" A few tears trailed down his cheeks, but Danny didn't mind. He could break down here all he wanted; nobody was there to see him cry.

He grabbed the suitcase and went back to his room, throwing a couple clothes inside before shaking his head. He didn't need those.

He grabbed the blanket he'd had since he was four and tied it around his neck like a cape. He wrapped his models in shirts and placed them gently in. He put Charles Bearwin in as well before he moved to his sister's room. Her stuffed toy was next; Bearbert Einstein. Years of journals and pictures went in, as did all the money she had shoved in the drawers of her desk. He threw in a few of her clothes and headbands, too.

In his parent's room Danny broke down, sitting on their bed and letting the tears fall. If he closed his eyes he could trick himself for a moment that they were right beside him, arms wrapped around his shoulders and whispering about how it would be okay.

But then he opened his eyes and the illusion was gone. Danny left before he'd be tempted to get it back.

He grabbed every picture he could, every bit of needlepoint his dad had done, and every recipe his mother had written down. It was hard to choose what he would leave behind; every single thing was a little bit of the life that he'd thought he'd lost. There were glue stains on his desk from models he'd made and ink stains on his sisters' from broken pens. There was the end table in the living room with its broken corner from that time he'd tripped Jazz when he was six and she'd hit her head. There was the burn marks on the cabinets above the stove, still there from Danny's failed attempt to bake a cake last year. Every bit was a piece of the life he wanted nothing more than to cling to.

In the kitchen there was the box of Spooky O's, still sitting on the counter where he'd left it weeks ago. His bowl was still in the sink. Danny wiped it out and poured himself some cereal for old time's sake.

He couldn't completely zip up the suitcase when he dragged it down the stairs, and was scared he was going to break something inside. It took five minutes for him to get down to the lab, where he spent two more just staring at it. While the rest of the house was mostly fine, his parents' lab looked like a disaster zone. Things were thrown everywhere and bits of beakers covered the ground. There were broken bits of something technological shattered against a wall. It looked like a fight had gone down.

"Mom?" He called, though he knew now they were gone. "Dad?"

Beside the stairs, there was what had once been a closet. The doors were gone now, thrown across the lab and broken on a counter. Danny stood in front of it, looking down at the fallen hangers and jumpsuits inside. Two blue- his mom's- three orange- his dad's- and eight white. His. He'd said that ghost hunting sounded cool once when he was six, and his parents had provided him with personal jumpsuits for his birthday ever since. The largest one had a sticker of his dad's face on it. Danny tied it around the handle of his suitcase and for a few minutes hugged his parents' ones close.

There was something at the far end of the lab, where his parents had been building their portal. The hole they'd had it in was now covered by a black and yellow striped door. Danny licked his lips, not exactly sure of what to make of it, or the control panel with a little dial on it a few feet away. With one hand still holding tightly onto the suitcase, he gripped the dial and turned it slowly around.

Green light flooded the room as Danny found himself staring at a much smaller version of the portal which had stolen his home. He grabbed onto the suitcase a little tighter and took a deep breath in.

"Bye, Mom," Danny whispered, "Bye, Dad."

He stepped into the portal. A twitching tunnel of green opened up before him, steadily getting larger. Danny took one step and slipped, sliding forwards and trying his best to hold onto what little he could keep of his home. He hit the ground hard, back of his head smashing into the pavement and suitcase held close. Danny hissed, moved a hand to touch his wound, and heard a noise beside him.

"Don't. Move."

Danny opened his eyes to see a man beside him. He had short black hair, a very visible scab on his neck, and was dressed completely in white.

Danny narrowed his eyes now, blinking several times. "Duncan?"

The man pressed a button on some sort of ear piece. "Maria, it's me. Get here, _now._ " The barrel of his gun seemed to glow, "I was right; the kid survived."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny looked at the white fabric he'd been dressed in and frowned, pulling at one of his pant legs. His room, much like everything else there was here, was also white. There was a white bed with white sheets, a white toilet with a white sink, white floor, white walls, white _everything._

It was also boring.

Danny wasn't sure how long he'd been with the Guys in White; it could have been anywhere from a week to a year. The days had started to bleed together. At first they'd run little tests- how long could he run, how long could he survive in cold water, how long could he go without sleep before passing out- but those had stopped after a man had tried to take a blood sample and Danny had stabbed him with the needle.

Nobody had come to see him after that. He was pretty sure he was in solitary confinement or something along those lines. That's what they did to criminals, wasn't it? Locked them away so they couldn't hurt anyone else. At least Duncan had survived. That was something.

The door clicked and Danny fell still. That was odd. They didn't normally open the door to give him food; there was a flap that reminded Danny of a doggy door on the bottom, and lately normally they just gave him his food through that.

The door swung open and Danny stared at Duncan. He stood up, looking everywhere but at the scar on his neck. "Yes?"

He stepped aside to reveal the young woman standing behind him. "Oh my god," She nearly flew forwards, wrapping her arms around her little brother. "Danny, oh my god, you're- you're actually-"

"Jazz?" He held her close, squeezing as tight as he could. "What are you-"

Her voice shook, "I thought you were dead."

"I'm so sorry," Danny whispered. He could feel tears rolling from her cheeks and onto his neck. "I'm so sorry Jazz."

She put a hand on the back of his head, squeezing Danny as tight as she could. Vlad stepped into frame, walking with a slight limp, and returned the glare Duncan gave him with a cold look. "Let's go home, little brother."

Vlad drove them back to Amity Park. Never once during the hour long drive did the siblings pull out of their hug.

.-.-.-.-.-.

According to his sister, it had been six weeks since his call to Sam and Tucker. School was nearly over now, and he'd have to be taking summer school to catch up. Lancer had been released from the hospital a week ago. There was a school fundraiser to help him pay his medical bills. Everyone else in that class had gotten out okay, but the town had not.

Ghosts were coming through the portal. Mostly blobs and shadows, but some animals too. Vlad nearly ran over a ghost cat when he brought them back to Tucker's house. Danny had panicked, paranoid that it'd attack him, but calmed down soon enough in his sister's arms.

Back at Tucker's house, his friends held him almost as tight as Jazz had. Tucker's parents did nothing until Danny approached them, friends and sister still clinging to his arms, and said he was so glad they were okay. Aunt Alicia flew out the next day and informed him that he was not under any circumstances to disappear like that again, "Or else."

Danny didn't say much in reply to that.

.-.-.-.-.-.

According to Sam and Tucker, ghosts had been actively attacking the town since two weeks after Elijah had come through. There were whispers wherever there were people; everyone blamed Danny's parents for the terror plaguing their town. And though they weren't vocal about it, Danny was sure his friends and sister blamed them for the ghost attacks too.

Danny could see little wisps sometimes, flying past Tucker's window. They never came inside, but Tucker still made sure to close the blinds whenever any flew by. For one week, Danny ignored the ghosts. It was foolish to think such peace would last.

He was enjoying a chocolate-kiwi-banana milkshake at the Nasty Burger with his friends when some sort of octopus thing was thrown through the roof. Peopled screamed and scattered, but the trio had been trapped in their booth.

Sam and Tucker had both moved to shield Danny, who clung tightly to their arms. He'd been stuck in one spot, frozen by fear and praying to a higher power he didn't believe in that the ghost wouldn't notice him.

It didn't; instead, while Danny slipped under the table to hide like the coward he was, the ghost wrapped its slimy tentacles around his friends and pulled them away.

He heard them scream, but frozen by the possibility that this ghost could work with Elijah he did not move to help them. And he hated himself every second that he knelt there, heart pounding in his chest and his breath coming out in choked gasps.

The Guys in White did show up eventually, after precious minutes had passed. Danny's hiding spot did not block his view of the fight and he saw how they attacked; they didn't care who they hurt. As long as they got the ghost, what happened to the humans didn't matter. Sam and Tucker were thrown on the ground, and when one agent moved towards them Danny found his strength. He threw himself between the two, arms spread wide. "Don't touch them."

The man had tried to explain himself. "Kid, I need to make sure there's no trace of ecto-energy in them-"

"And what if there is?" Danny had snapped, "Are you going to experiment on them?!"

The woman he'd saved from Elijah had appeared soon afterwards. "Leave them," She said, "We have more important things to worry about."

Sam and Tucker said they didn't blame him for hiding. They weren't mad at him for being scared. They understood. But Danny was furious with himself. Sam's ankle had been broken and Tucker had a mild concussion. Danny was certain that next time, if everything went the same, it would be so much worse. They had been lucky this time but luck did not last. If he froze up again his friends could die.

He had to be better. He couldn't be scared anymore. One mistake and next time it wouldn't be just his parents that the ghosts had taken away.

.-.-.-.-.-.

For the first two weeks, when people asked Danny what had happened, he told them only that he'd been possessed by a ghost and taken away by ghost hunters. After he was separated from Elijah, the Guys in White had kept him under supervision. Nobody mentioned the call he made to Sam and Tucker. Nobody asked how Vlad had found him, and nobody commented on the scars on his arms. They just let him keep his lie.

Two more weeks passed before he was able to tell his best friends and sister even part of what Elijah had done to him. He left out many pieces in his story; mostly those involving blood. Afterwards, he mentioned briefly the suitcase he'd taken from his home. Sam pointed out that the Guys in White likely still had it. Tucker suggested storming into their base to get it back. Jazz said nothing, but held her brother in another long hug.

The suitcase was delivered to Tucker's doorstep the next day.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny hung up the family portrait taken when he was ten on the wall before stepping back. The wall was coated with half of their family photos; Sam and Jazz were using the other half to decorate the attic.

"Charles Bearwin," Tucker said, holding up the teddy bear. "Small you was a dork."

"Small me is going to fight you if you don't stop teasing him," Danny said.

"How's he going to do that?"

"Time travel," Danny replied, grabbing one of his rockets. "Duh. Now release the bear."

Tucker tossed it across the room so that it landed on Danny's bed. "What now?"

"Um…" Danny stared at the empty suitcase, "I don't know."

Tucker moved closer to him, "Are you gonna be okay dude?"

"Eventually," Danny forced a smile and set the rocket down. He tapped the suitcase with his foot, unsure of what to do next. "Maybe we should go see if the girls are done decorating your attic- um, I mean Jazz's room."

"Don't bother," Sam said as she and Jazz returned, "We've already got everything set up."

Danny nodded, and his sister moved to his side. "I- I guess that's it then." He kicked the suitcase closed with a foot, staring at the logo of his parents' business. He thought of the sign that hung above his front door and the fit Jazz had pitched when their dad had got it. "That's it."

"Hold on," Jazz said, kneeling down. "I know this suitcase. Dad made a bunch like them when I was four. I think I remember him and Mom talking about these." She pressed down on the logo and slowly opened the suitcase back up, "If I'm right…" She jabbed her finger into the side of the suitcase, and the younger three watched as the back of the suitcase peeled away revealing a lair of blue. "It has a secret compartment."

"Oh," Danny dropped to his knees and stared at the contents inside. Tucker and Sam did the same, attempting to position themselves so the purple cast Sam had on her ankle wouldn't be in the way. "Oh, wow."

Tucker reached out, grabbing onto one of the blue pieces of paper. "These are blueprints," He said, handing them to the siblings. "Why is your suitcase full of blueprints?"

"It's Mom and Dad's work," Jazz said, "They must have put all of their stuff into there in case… something happened."

Danny said nothing, staring at the blueprint of a 'Fenton Peeler.' _Mom, Dad…_

Tucker grabbed another blueprint, looking it over. "You know," He said, "I could probably build one of these."

Danny looked up, "You could?"

Tucker nodded, "Yeah, if I had the stuff. And think of how useful having this ghost shield belt thing would be!"

Sam leaned over, "Let me see that." She stared at it for a few minutes before taking out her phone, "I can get it for you."

"You can?" Danny raised an eyebrow, "How? I don't even know what half of this stuff is." He looked over the labels on his own blueprint, "Actually, the only thing I recognize is iron."

"My Grandma knows some people," Sam waved him off, "So, how many things do we want to build? I might as well get all the materials at once."

Frowning, Danny grabbed all the blueprints and spread them out across the floor. "Ghost shield and the belt thing, definitely. Fenton utility weapon, that'll be good, and um… I think that's it. Maybe the Fenton Peeler?"

"You forgot something," Jazz said, and pulled out what seemed to be an SD card. "There's probably more on here. Tucker, can we use your computer?"

A minute later, the four of them crowded around Tucker's laptop. "That's weird," He said, "I think it came from a camera." He clicked on the first file on the list, and Jazz clasped her hands over her mouth.

"This is Jack and Maddie Fenton," Their father's voice boomed, "Here to record the opening of our brand new ghost-portal!" The camera focused on Maddie, who was adjusting some of the smaller dials right beside the portal. "How's it going, baby?"

"Jack," She rolled her eyes, "Put that thing away!"

"No can do, Mads!" He rushed forward and picked his wife up, filming their passionate kiss. "I want the kids to feel like they were really here when we started it up! In fact, I can hear their ews now!"

Danny and Jazz said nothing, but grabbed each other's hand.

Maddie gave her husband a playful shove before turning to the camera. "Make sure you get the control panel in. If you're going to document this, I want you to get every part."

"On it!" Their Dad spun the camera around, "This is, of course, our lab! And these are the control panels, and that's the ecto-filtrator, and-"

"Move slower, Jack, so they can see."

"-And this is our baby, the Fenton Portal! Your new brother! Or, well, sister. Well, technically it's not alive, so whatever you kids want to call it you're free to! _This_ is what we've been working on! Ta-da!"

Danny squeezed his sister's hand a little tighter.

"Set the camera down now," Maddie called, "I need you to make sure that breaker is on before we plug it in. Honestly, how that thing ended up inside is beyond me. We'll have to work on rerouting the electricity later on…"

Jack set the camera down on a stand and rushed off, ducking into the portal. "Look, Maddie! I'm a ghost!"

Maddie chuckled, and it occurred to Danny that this would be the last time he'd hear his mother laugh.

Jack climbed back out of his portal and lifted up the plugs. "Ready when you are!"

"Increasing ectoplasm intake by four percent," Maddie said, messing around with some smaller dials beside the portal. "Adjusting charge and- now, Jack!"

He forced the plugs together and the screen flashed white. It stayed that way.

"We did it," Maddie whispered, "We did it! It works! We've created a portal-" A siren cut her off as the visuals returned. A rush of blue energy knocked them back and camera fell. The lens was cracked now, and didn't quite show the elder Fentons.

"Maddie, what's happening?!"

"I- I don't know!" It was hard to hear her over the high-pitched wail, "Something increased the ectoplasm intake by nearly three hundred percent and it keeps going up! Jack, I can't stop it!"

"What do you mean you can't stop it?! Sure you can, Mads, you can-"

"Stop that! I can't! We put that stupid off button inside, and if we were to go in now before it's started to stabilize- if I hadn't been so impatient-" The siren drowned out the rest of her words. Danny could barely hear his parents shouting, trying desperately to fix it, and Tucker turned the volume up.

Jack grabbed the camera, seeming to stare at his children. There was a trickle of blood coming down from his forehead; something must have hit him. "Jasmine," He said, the joking tone gone, "Danny. I- I just need you both to know that-" He had to stop and take a moment. "I love you. We both do. Do good things, help people, and reach your dreams. You can do it. We believe in you both." He took a breath in, "I'd ask you to make me proud, but you already have. Every day you've been alive you've made me so, so proud to be your dad."

"Jack!" Maddie shouted.

Jack looked over his shoulder before turning back to the camera. "Look after each other. We might not be there to do it anymore." The video ended there, and for several minutes they all sat in silent.

"Hey," Sam whispered, "Are you okay?"

"He said goodbye," Danny whispered, "He- he said _goodbye."_

Tucker asked, "Are you guys going to be okay?"

"I think so," Jazz whispered, "Eventually."

"It was an accident," Danny said softly, "Everyone's been blaming them for setting the ghosts loose but it wasn't their fault!" He ran a hand through his hair, "All this is happening because of some ghost on the other side of the portal." Danny was reminded of Elijah's claim that someone called Clockwork was to blame. But he shook his head and dismissed that thought; there was no way he was going to believe anything that Elijah had said.

"So technically," Tucker said, "Some ghost attacked your parents and now we're being invaded by them."

"That sounds like an act of war," Jazz muttered.

"I don't think it was," Sam put in, "For all we know it was an accident."

"Accident or not," Danny stood now, pacing back and forth. "Amity Park is still being attacked constantly by ghosts! If Mom and Dad were here, they could-" He stopped, staring at the suitcase. "…Or we could."

"We…?" Sam trailed off, "Danny, no, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Danny turned to face his sister and friends, "Think, guys; we have their blueprints! We can make their weapons and fight off the ghosts!"

"Uh, dude? You can't even go near a ghost without freaking out." Tucker pointed out.

"But aren't you supposed to get rid of fears by experiencing them or some other psychological mumbo-jumbo?"

"Exposure therapy," Jazz said.

"First of all Danny, if you say mumbo-jumbo again I'm disowning you," Sam said, "Secondly, the Guys in White are already protecting the town!"

"The Guys in White strapped me to a table and wanted to electrocute me. The Guys in White made me feel like my only choices were trust Elijah or be tortured. They kept me captive for at least a week and probably a lot longer without telling you guys!" Danny fixed them with a look, ignoring the horror on their faces. He'd never told them about what Agent W had wanted to do. "The _Guys in White_ don't care about the humans they hurt as long as they get the ghosts!"

"And you'll be better?" Sam stood up too, using Tucker to help her. "You don't know how to work any of these things!"

"Then I'll learn!" Danny reached down and grabbed a blueprint, "I can't just sit on the sidelines. Someone has to do something and I can!"

"Danny-" Jazz started.

"The Guys in White are dangerous," He repeated, "I'm not leaving them in charge of defending the town anymore. Someone's going to get killed if we don't do something! I can capture the ghosts with-" He looked at the blueprint, "-The Fenton Thermos and send them back into the Ghost Zone! Nobody has to suffer like I did ever again. The Guys in White hurt people, so we can't leave this up to them. If Mom and Dad were here they'd be able to take care of it; but Mom and Dad are gone." He crossed the room to his bed, setting the blueprint down on it. "So it falls on us to pick up the pieces. We can do things, we can help people! We have all their work! We're the best shot the people of Amity Park have."

There was a stifling and awkward silence which covered the four of them. After a few long moments, Tucker stood too. "I'm with you."

"So am I," Sam said.

"You can't be serious," Jazz said, "You aren't doing this. I won't let you!"

"You can't stop me," Danny said, looking up at his sister as she stood. "I have a chance to change things, Jazz, and I'm going to take it whether you want me to or not."

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"You really have no faith in me, do you?" He cut her off when she tried to speak again, "I'm not planning on making a living out of it, but until we can find some way to shut down the portal Amity Park needs us. Why can't you-"

"Because _I_ need you too!"

That shut Danny up. "Oh."

Jazz sighed, pulling her brother into a quick hug. "I already lost Mom and Dad because of that stupid portal, and I almost lost you too. I can't let you do this, Danny; you'll get yourself killed!" They pulled apart, and Jazz brushed a particularly long strand of hair from Danny's face. "You don't even have a jumpsuit or anything to protect yourself against them!"

Danny grinned, reached back onto his bed, and grabbed the white jumpsuit he'd hidden under his baby blanket. "Guess again."

Jazz stepped back, taking a deep breath in. "Oh, Danny…"

"In an ideal world, Mom and Dad's portal would've worked on the first try." He held up the jumpsuit, "But our world isn't ideal. Things happen, things go wrong, and people die. But we have a chance to make it better. We can protect people!" He put his left foot into the jumpsuit. "Our parents are gone," His right foot went in too, "And the Guys in White can't be trusted. So it falls down to us." He smiled, slipping the sleeves over his arms. "We have a chance to fix things. I'm not sure about you guys, but I know what I have to do." Danny zipped up the jumpsuit and stared at them. Jazz was shaking her head, while Sam and Tucker were trying to cover up their obvious concern with false grins. It didn't take a genius to know that they'd only agreed to help him so they could protect him.

But Danny didn't care. For the first time since his parents died, everything felt right. "I have to stop all the ghosts that are coming through."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's here to fight for me and you!
> 
> I literally wrote this fic for the sole purpose of making that joke, but then I got attached. Do you see my problem? This series has several stories within it now.
> 
> The sequel is roughly 50% complete so, uh, you can probably expect the first part of that later this month? You've seen my ability to update things regularly. Take any promises I make with a grain of salt.


End file.
